Work.

Ok, what work has me in this part of the world?
I have to add this because there are even some members of my family that still ask the above question...
I'm a biologist (technician - officially) for the USDA-ARS Bee Lab. I guess that with every thing government, I've just told you nothing.

Basically, the park has never had a compete invertebrate survey. The logistics and size of the park alone make a small study like this one difficult but surveys and studies have been done on every thing from Ravens to black bears. SO what makes bees so special, let alone invertebrates.

The stories that they can tell! I have no guess as to the total species of invertebrates that the park has. It has between 370 and 500 species of bees and each one of these species has a different life history. This project hopes to identify and document all species occurring in the Yosemite National park. Then start to weave a tapestry, a grand series of stories, of the interrelationships bees have with flowers, slopes, gravel types, and presents of different nesting materials/substrates as well as the fires that make the flora of Yosemite an ever changing a mosaic.

Much better than tracking West Nile Virus in mosquitoes....eh?

Links that officially describe what I/we are doing for the Yosemite Fund, NPS and the USGS in Yosemite are below.

http://www.yosemitefund.org/yoseprojects/yoseprojects.htm
http://ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?accn_no=408262
http://www.yorku.ca/yorkint/internships/placements/usda.htm
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parsons/